Simpler than that.

Not enough quality players.

Same players as was 4th in SL at half way though

Simple answer...............

1 Dave Halley
2 Rikki Sheriffe
3 Paul Sykes
4 Chris Nero
5 Stuart Reardon

Tbh that back line is NL standard not SL standard..... you have signed too many shocking backs.

Kearney, Orford, Lynch & Menzies are wasted with THAT in front of them unfortunately!

Not spending full cap BUT spending fair bit on Marquee player/s = thin squad poor on quality in some areas = disproportionately affected by injuries especially to key players.

Head coach and marquee player/s not seeing eye-to-eye???

Because of a gypsy curse placed on the Bulls after we wouldn't buy her lucky 'eather because we were skint.

We KNOW the team can play well - we saw it at the end of last season/beginning of this.

Disruption of coach leaving? Maybe they have abandonment issues?!
Injuries to key players? Possibly - we have a light squad and have had players out or playing below full strength (personally I think the team have been lacking in general fitness for the last few seasons)
Predictable game plans and lack of imagination? Once your opponents know how you play you need to evolve or lose - maybe Macca was keeping the good plays for England?
Poor quality players? Again, we know they can play well so I don't buy into this and they all seem to have done OK elsewhere.
Confidence? Possibly but some of these players should have the experience to deal with this and help their team mates.

If it was just one thing and was simple it would have been sorted weeks ago. Maybe the players get upset at the slating they get on here?!

Edited for accuracy .


I haven't voted BTW

Hope you get things sorted soon . It really is a shame that a team as mighty as the Bulls have suffered such a string of results as you are having .

Looking forward to you been back up where you belong . As fans you lot must be devastated by recent form and events . Some of us really do feel for you .

Easy...

Team told by coach "despite the setbacks, together we can prove them all wrong"

then...

"and by the way, I'm off!"

The man has a point...

All of the above! You didn't put that option Den!

Lots of different reasons over the season, but for today and the last few games I'll go with rank bad tackling coupled with trying to beat well organised well drilled teams, irrespective of player quality of the opposition, with no half backs. (for the sake of this argument I'm sticking to Sykes being a weak , Kearney being an excellent full back, L'Estrange being a decent hooker and Addy being a very promising 13....but none of them being a regular half back)

Its also no coincedence how many games we've lost since the double effect of McNamara announcing he's off and Orford being off. I predict we'll only win 1 maybe 2 of our games left.

It's interesting you are now suggesting this Adey, it's not something I had really considered. There doesn't seem to be that type of player (egotistical) at Odsal. Orford & Menzies are the only marquee players & both seem totally commited professionals to me. However you have a team far too good to lose 9 in a row, so there is/has been something seriously lacking between the coach & players for some time.

Not quite true. The players that got us to 4th are ot have been injured for a greater part of the time since. There are not enough quality players. WE could arguably have coped with the amount of injuries we have had if we could have picked which players got injured.

This team was 4th in the league not so long ago poor coaching and poor decision making from the board has all added up to where we are now.

We've no playmakers so all the hard work comes to nothing. We're less able to take chances needing 10 for every other team needing 2 or 3 before a try is scored. That leads to a loss in confidence.

It's obvious that things aren't right off the field, as the side play like a set of individuals. There's often a fair bit of effort but it's made as individuals who often just don't look like they're enjoying themselves much.

We need more than one playmaker at the club next year or we'll be in the same boat.

All this in three months???

Wakefield have topped the table after 3 games previously, means zip, nor will it ever.

The same players who were 4th have illustrated their ability by their current position, for the 9th game running.

I except the young players from that equation. However some of the seniors around them are simply poor. But that is where the club are right now. Hey ho.

Personally I don't buy into the whole board thing.

The board employed a head coach who is widely reputed to be one of the best young British coaches in the game by players, ex pro's and other coaches. I don't think they can be blamed for backing him and hoping he'd come good, especially taking into account the constraints of the past few years, and early in the season it looked like their faith was being re-paid.

The coaching staff were in charge of training and game strategy.
If that hasn't been working due to it being inefficient or too transparent the coaches are to blame.
If that hasn't been working due to the players not playing well or not doing what they have trained and planned it is the players fault.

I presume the club have a better idea than we do which it is but I don't think Macca stating that we were going all out for the Cup helped unless he knew that we lacked the stamina and squad to challenge in the League. To me that basically says to the players that the league was not a priority for the club so who can blame them for losing focus?

Whilst there's lots of arguements for the fact that we should have got rid of Macca, the coaching staff and half the playing staff years ago I suppose you have to look and say 'who would replace them?' Especially as it would cost a fortune to get shut and the fact is that there wasn't the money to bring anyone better in (again refer back to my point about Macca's status in the game) The decision to keep Macca after he accepted the England role looked like the right one as we were riding high at the time. How much it effected the players is open to debate - it didn't seem to effect Saints or Huddersfield too much.

Maybe instead of blaming the board we should thank them for the fact that we still have a club to support. Even if they are poo.

How many times does your average fan say "you know what, it ISN'T the coach its you players letting us all down". Never happens but plenty of times this year I've thought to myself that no coach on earth could have stopped some of our most self-destructive phases.

That's sport for you though, its ALWAYS the fault of the coach.

Agree with all of that.

Almost always it is a combination of fault of players and fault of coaching. Only the proportions change. But you can't get rid of all your players, and so ultimately every coach leaves or gets the boot. 'Twas ever thus, and will always be.

I suppose that's because in most cases it's the head coach who builds the team and brings the players in. In all sports the coach is judged by the results of his team and if that team doesn't perform it's his head that rolls.

Unless you're called Steve McNamara, in which case you get promoted.

I think your first point is one of those sports cliches all to readily accepted. I haven't seen anything from the Bulls over the last four years to suggest Macca is one of the best young British coaches. If he is then I think it says more about the rest of the competition than his ability. As for not being able to afford to get rid of him I wonder how much it has cost to keep him and if Sunday is anything to go by how long it will take to get the crowd back. They should have remembered that it is easier to keep a crowd coming than to get them to return once they are disaffected.

I agree with that pretty much except that it wasn't actually all the same players. From the dizzy heights of fourth, which may have been a false position, but it is where we were, we lost too many to injuries, including our main (and in terms of accepted positions), [ionly[/i real first team half back.

None of the various stop gaps has been particularly successful, and with 20/20 hindsight we shouldn't have gone into the season like that. I don't think all the shuffling around of player's positions, trying to cover gaps in the halves has helped either.

Generall disruption
loosing donaldson
then orford
then scruton
then mcnamara

Very much what Spannerz says IMO

Players win matches, coaches lose them. Never has that old adage been so true under McNamara's reign.